How many chihuahuas have I lost now? – Elise Brewerton

For three months, Family Life editor Elise Brewerton will be sharing the ups and downs on her weight loss journey with Slimming World’s 12 Week Countdown.

In a bid to put my weight-loss into perspective I got lost down a bit of an internet rabbit hole and emerged somewhere quite bizarre.

Over the past six weeks I’ve lost 10lbs. When you do it gradually you don’t feel or really see the impact but it feels wonderful when family and friends notice.

And because I’m still eating loads of Slimming World syn-friendly food, rather than starving myself, it doesn’t feel as if I’m malnourished.

Now I seem to have hit my stride and clothes are fitting without causing me to cease breathing after a few minutes – and exercise is getting easier – I decided to find out what exactly the equivalent of 10lbs looks like.

It turns out the amount of fat I’ve lost weighs the same as 10 guinea pigs. What a strange thought. I could also fit two yapping chihuahua in my jeans now and I’d weigh the same as I did six weeks ago.

If I really wanted I could stick two-and-a-half ostrich eggs up my jumper to replace the pounds I’ve lost. What a vision.

I have to admit that now I can see the results, I can’t stop seeing them. Every time I walk past a mirror I do so sideways and suck my tummy in a bit more, stand up a bit straighter.

There’s still a long way to go – just over a stone – and it’s tough when my colleagues stuff their faces with Haribos and custard doughnuts all day with flagrant disregard for my feelings.

But those doughnuts – which have been my downfall on many a previous diet – haven’t passed my lips this time.

I’m more determined than ever to shift those final stubborn pounds ready for spring.